Cowboys+Artists

Marfa Texas. Go there. By day you’ll feel the dry heat and see the cactus. By night you’ll feel the cold and hear the train passing through.

There’s a saloon, and there’s a sheriff. You can get grits on your tacos and pints of Lone Star for a buck. This is Texas, home of the Cowboy.

You’ll also find one of America’s major centres for minimalist art. In fact, the further you look into this town, the more you realize that although they may look like cowboys, you’re surrounded by artists.

Rock n Roll Knife Fight

July of 2009 Mongoose hired us to shoot their upcoming album cover and art work. The name of the album was going to be Rock n Roll Knife fight and the guys envisioned an homage to the 1979 film The Warriors.

A few weeks later the band scored a UK tour and the promotor told them that while Britain is Great, they don't look too kindly on blade-related references so the album name and artwork wouldn't fly. An alternative name of "Stabby Stabby Punk Ruckus" was also rejected.

Mrs Welder

Erika is a designer, artist, single mom and now a ticketed welder.

We took these portraits to commemorate the completion of her training and the beginning of her new career.

H.A.M. & The Boom Booms

It was a rainy December night in Vancouver, 2012, and The Venue on Granville had a double bill feature: The Harpoonist and the Axe Murderer, and The Boom Booms.

The Sign Maker of Save on Meats

Back in 2011 part of the second floor at Save On Meats became the studio for Dan Climan. He was charged with creating all the vintage style, hand painted signs to be used throughout the newly renovated Save On Meats building. The task took him a few months.

We were hired to shoot the signs for a book about the building.

After we finished we couldn't resist and headed to the roof for a portrait session with Dan.

Purpleheart

Side One ad

Rob and Erin from Side One hired us to shoot their first ad. They were a new event band comprising of a handful of the best session musicians from the city.

It's been a few years since those days. Although Cory may no longer rock the moustache, the band still rocks every party they're hired for; and these days they're hired for many.

www.sideone.ca

Ty the Train Jumper

Ty came to us for one of our STRONG Project shoot days. He had been living in Vancouver for a few months on an indefinite layover on an ongoing Canada/US train hobo adventure. He'd already lost his left leg below the knee and a few fingers along his journey and it seemed as though the journey was far from over.

Trevor Undi

Writer/Director Trevor Undi. He looks great in a faux fur hat. What else can you say.

Zach Bell

Zach's agency hired us to fill out his press kit. We spent the day with Zach at the velo-drome in Burnaby.

Two things that stood out from this shoot: cyclists have massive thighs, and it takes cyclists with massive thighs to get those bikes nearly horizontal on the banked wooden track.

Mark Brand

We shot Mark Brand For BC Business magazine when Save On Meats was still a building site. Today it's a thriving cafe - ask about the bacon milkshake.

La Brasserie

A former favourite of the West End, La Brasserie served up Franco-German comfort food while you supped on cocktails and watched the chefs work their magic.

The founders sold up and and headed over to Robson Street, where they now run Pizza Fabrika.

Homeless Team Canada

He was dying and living out his days in hospice at St. Paul's hospital in downtown Vancouver. He had no family or no friends so he was going to die without anybody remembering him. Our friend RC new him from the neighbourhood he worked in and asked if we'd come and photograph him.

He told us of how he used to be on the Canadian swim team, and held Canadian swimming records for a while. But he left the team before his career ever went anywhere.

He had been homeless for years before he ended up here.

Seven25

Seven25 are a design and typography firm based in the heart of rainy Vancouver.

Filosophi Ads

They're a wedding planning company and they plan weddings that aren't traditional. Erin, Coco and the rest of the gang are the cure for the common wedding.

These images represent the ads we've shot for them through the years.

www.filosophi.com

Josh Bowman

Josh came to us in need of a portrait of himself, for his website. He's a sound engineer and gets to play with that big ass sound board in the background. That board recorded some of the Beatles tracks along with countless others. It currently lives at Warehouse Studios, Gastown, Vancouver.

Lindsay + Andrew

LIndsay is our lawyer. She's rad, and not just because she does legal stuff for us.

May of 2014 she married a cool fella named Andrew down in Marfa Texas. Here are some photos from their day.

Aprons for Gloves

Aprons for Gloves is the charity boxing tournament featuring workers from the Vancouver restaurant industry. Each season a new round of contenders - some new some returning - spend three months training there asses off for a shot at the main event fight night. Some make it all the way, some don't.

This series follows Sean Sherwood (Fiction, Lucy Mae Brown, Century) through a day of training during the 2013 season.

Guy Camouflage

A BC Business magazine assignment. This is Guy Cramer. He's the founder of local company called Hyperstealth Biotechnology Corp. Basically these guys design the camouflage patterns for most of the major militaries around the world. You name 'em: Canada, USA, Australia, Jordan, Afghanistan... the list goes on.

They also produce other technologies. One of them is a light bending technology that can be applied to a material. Yep. They mad an invisibility cloak. Seriously.

STRONG

Shannie and the Black Duke

Jewelry made from old bike tires. Reluctantly worn by Shannie, the makeup artist.

Among about a dozen other things that unequivocally give RC the title of renaissance man, he started Black Duke Jewelry and makes all the pieces himself. Shannie was doing makeup on project that her, RC and us collaborate on.

Like most people who make their careers behind the camera she had no interest in crossing to the other side. But she's a good friend, and incidentally, she nailed it.

Punta del Diablo

Uruguay. A combination of simple, often primitive living, combined with modern conveniences. It's not a rare thing to see people getting around on horse back while also speaking on mobile phones.

Other facts about Uruguay: it was the first country in South America to legalize same-sex marriage, it was the first country in the world to fully legalize cannabis, and the president drives himself around in an old VW Beetle and lives in a small modest home with his wife - he offered the presidential mansion up as a homeless shelter.

This little town is up the coast about half an hour from Brazil. The many streets are dirt track and the houses are generally very simple. Your first impression is that they are simple huts, except they have full electricity, gas stoves, wifi, fridges, microwaves etc.

A Dark Filosophi Creative

Argentinos

Blueprint Media at the Commodore

The Harpoonist and Axe Murderer

In December of 2012 we heard H.A.M. for the first time and immediately wanted them to collaborate with playground.is. Despite their busy schedule we got a yes out of them. These are two events we followed them to so we could snap them play live for promo content for the upcoming event.

The first is the first time we experienced them play live. It was at the Squamish Music Festival in 2012. They were playing the small local stage and they absolutely destroyed it.

The second is the Commodore in Vancouver. They were opening for another band that but owned it like a boss. Incidentally November 8th, they will be headlining at the Commodore. With tours and festivals all over North America, these boys have been busy.

CW

Bikrams Yoga Calendar

2009 Bikrams yoga calendar.

Bloodless Album Cover

2008

Crossfit Vancouver

Datarock

October of '09 we drove down to Seattle to shoot the Norwegian electronic rock band. The show, in a small bar venue away from downtown, was the final stop on their American tour. The irony was this was one of the smallest venues along the trip.

They certainly rocked that tight little venue with the gusto fit for a stadium.

Late in the evening after the show the fellas hit an all night karaoke bar with exactly the same gusto.